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In a preseason where a new Nuggets coach is desperately trying to lay a foundation, a culture of keeping the organization's house in order, it was fitting the franchise that most embodies stability and maturity in the NBA was the first visitor to the Pepsi Center on Monday night — San Antonio.

No franchise is studied, dissected and emulated more than the Spurs.

Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti arrived there from San Antonio years ago, implemented the "Spurs Way" — and in the process created another blueprint to follow, which former Nuggets GM Masai Ujiri is intent on accomplishing now in Toronto. Orlando GM Rob Hennigan is a Spurs AND Thunder alum. The Atlanta Hawks hired Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer. Philadelphia hired Spurs assistant Brett Brown.

All looking to recreate the stability, the accountability and the professionalism that have been the hallmarks of a Spurs franchise that has won four NBA titles.

Here, Nuggets coach Brian Shaw is looking to do the same.

Because he knows if a team is a bunch of frayed wires, there is a good chance those wires will spark a fire that cannot be controlled. The Nuggets have had a nasty early reoccurring habit of sniping and bickering at one another on the court, which: A) gets under Shaw's skin, and B) leads him to pledge to nip it now — or know he'll pay the consequences later with a fractured group of players.

"I'm going to demand it," Shaw said. "And those who buy into it will be rewarded. And those who continue to fight it will kind of have to take a back seat to those who buy in. But it's very important. We talk about togetherness every day — everything we do as a team we do together, win or lose. And part of doing things together is, it doesn't look together when you're arguing out there on the floor about who should take this shot or who should be handling the ball."

Shaw isn't from the San Antonio tree; he's an extension of the Phil Jackson "Zen Master" family. And that was a looser form of discipline — more along the lines of each player finding himself and then his role within the team. Jackson was a thoughtful, introspective person. He wanted his players to conduct themselves that way, too.

It works. But the danger is in the will of the players. Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal's infighting became famous. But when it came to working together on the court, they were always able to get it done. It helped to have leaders like Derek Fisher, and, yes, Shaw on the team for those championship Lakers squads in 2000, 2001 and 2002.

The Nuggets are still in search of their leadership pieces, and that extends from everything from the locker room to getting things done on the court.

"They are trying to establish a pecking order amongst themselves," Shaw said. "So, one of our bigs might be in position and they want to post up and the guard has the ball and he's calling something else. So it's a matter of who is going to listen to who. I told them that the point guards are the extension of the coaching staff on the floor. If they call the play, you follow their lead. And as we get into it a little more and the pecking order establishes itself, then maybe it will change."

"Definitely we're trying to lay down the foundation," Shaw said. "We're trying to build a certain culture around here."

Because, ultimately, the team that doesn't rise together most certainly falls apart.

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